Pallet of corrugated paperboard and the like



Sheet 4 of 2 m M m 2 l w. 0 A w m Feb. 4, 1969 I c. A. ORAVEZ I PALLET0F CORRUGATED PAPERBOARD AND THE LIKE Filed March 16, '1967 a z i 0 9 6MFZ: z y .l. 0 lllln H Vi wll l|||\| i h M llllrl M- Q 2 4 t Z 4 mZHIUIIIILI...ITIIAILIIIFMQIA Z- 1; .6 f 5 llll llklr 3 I II: 8 0 I Q @112 Z 0 W a z 27 Feb. 4, 1969 c. A. ORAVEZ PALLET 0F CORRUGATED PAPERBOARDAND THE LIKE Filed March 16, 1967 'Sheet INVENTOR VEZ C421. A. ORA

BY EM;

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thepallet comprises a platform sheet usually formed of corrugatedpaperboard or solid fibre to which is secured a plurality of spaced legsarranged in a pattern to permit handling of the platform by a fork lifttruck or other material handling equipment. =Each leg comprises a sheetof foldable material cut and creased to provide a rectangular bottompanel having side walls hinged to the edges thereof. Two opposed sidewalls include extensions each foldable to provide a hollow vertical cellresting upon the bottom panel and substantially coextensive in heightwith the side walls. The remaining opposed side walls are provided withpartial top panels which overlie the cells and support tuck flapsinsertable between the cells to hold the structure assembled.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvement inpallets and deals particularly with a pallet constructed of corrugatedpaperboard or the like which can be produced at low cost.

Pallets are very commonly used in materials handling operations. In viewof the fact that wooden pallets are quite expensive to produce, manysuch pallets are now being produced made of corrugated paperboard orsolid fibre. While pallets of this type are not as durable as woodenpallets, they are sufficiently less expensive so that they may bedisposed of after use. Such an arrangement is particularly desirablewhere goods are being shipped from a manufacturing plant to a distantpoint, as it eliminates the necessity of returning the empty pallets tothe manufacturer.

Perhaps the most widely adapted disposable pallets incorporate spirallywound single -face corrugated legs of the general type illustrated inthe Donahue Patent 2,432,- 295, issued Dec. 9, 1947. Box-like reinforcedsleeves such as illustrated in the Cohners Patent 2,503,240 issued Apr.11, 1950, have been proposed but not widely adopted as they lack thestrength of other constructions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention lies in theprovition of a pallet having supporting legs which comprise box-likestructures which may be set up by merely folding the corrugatedpaperboard to form a rectangular container. When such a container isadhered to the surface of the pallet, it is held from opening, theadhesive holding the structure closed; I I

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision thateach leg is formed of a generally rectangular blank of corrugated boardso constructed that there is virtually no waste. The blank is dividedinto an elongated center strip, and two elongated side trips on oppositesides of the center strip. The center strip is creased to provide abottom panel, two opposed side wall panels, two partial top panels, andtwo tuck flaps. The side strips are creased to provide two side Walls,and four additional panels on each side of the side walls which formrectangular cells. When erected, the four cells extend vertically thefull height between the bottom panel and the top panels and provide astructure which is possessed of great compressive strength. As a result,each leg is capable of supporting a very considerable weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and novelfeatures of the present invention will be more clearly and fully setforth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a pallet showing the generalarrangement of parts.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing a construction inwhich the legs are supported between a pair of pallet sheets.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of one of the legs in partially foldedcondition.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view through one of the legs.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view through one of the legs.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the pallet legsare formed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIGURE 6 of the drawings discloses theblank from which each of the pallet legs is formed. The arrow 10indicates the direction of the flutes of the corrugated board, thearrangement being such that the flutes of the board extend verticallybetween the top and bottom panels in the major portion of the structure.The blank illustrated includes a central strip 11, and a pair of sidestrips 12 on opposite sides of the center strip. The strips arepreferably of equal length.

The center strip 11 includes a bottom panel 13 which is hingedlyconnected along fold lines 14 to side walls 15. Side walls '15 arehingedly connected along parallel fold lines 16 to partial top panels-17. The partial top panels 17 are foldably connected along fold lines19 to tuck flaps 20. The tuck flaps 20' may be slightly less width thanthe panels 13, 15 and 17, and are preferably provided with rounded endcorners 21 to facilitate the operation of inserting the tuck flaps intoposition, as will be described. The partial top panels 17 are of a widthsubstantially equal to one-half the width of the bottom panel 13, thisbottom panel being usually square in shape. The fold lines extendingacross the center strip are substantially parallel.

The side strips 12 are substantially identical to each other in form.Each side strip 12 includes a central side wall panel 22 which ishingedly connected to the bottom panel 13, the side wall panels 22 beingconnected to the bottom panel along parallel fold lines 23 whichintersect the fold lines 114 at right angles. The fold lines 23 whichextend the length of the bottom panel '13 form the only connectionbetween the side strips 12 and the center strip 11, slits 28 which arealigned with the fold lines 23 extending the remaining length of theblank between the center strip 11 and the side strips 12.

The side strips 12 are divided into cell forming panels by fold lineswhich extend transversely thereof, the fold lines extending parallelwith the flutes of the corrugated blank. The side walls 22 are hingedlyconnected along fold lines 24, which are substantially aligned with thefold lines 14, to first cell forming panels 25. The first cell formingpanels 24 are connected to second cell forming panels 26 along foldlines 27. The second cell forming panels 26 are connected to third cellforming panels 29 along fold lines 30. The third cell forming panels 29are connected to the fourth cell forming panels 31 along fold lines 32.Each series of first, second, third and fourth partition forming panelsare designed to form a hollow vertical column of rectangular form as isbest illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings. When folded, thefirst panels 25 lie inwardly of the side wall panels 15 of the centerstrip. The second panels 26 of the two opposed strips extend along thecenter of the structure in face to face contact. The third partitionforming panels 29 extend parallel to the first panels 25 of the series.The fourth partition forming panels 31 extend in face contact with theside walls 22. The partition panels 29 on opposite sides of the sidewalls 22 are in slightly spaced relation along the center of thestructure as indicated in FIGURE 3.

After the various cells have been formed as indicated in FIGURE 3 of thedrawings, the side walls 15 of the center strip are folded outwardly ofthe panels 25, the partial top panels 17 are folded to overlie the upperends of the adjacent two cells, and the tuck flaps 20 are tucked downinto the space between the partition forming panels 29 at opposite endsof the side strips 12. If desired during this action, the strips 26 onopposite sides of the structure may be adhered or stitched in facecontact. Similarly, the panels 31 may be stitched or adhered to the sidewalls 22. However, such fastening is mainly for the purpose ofconvenience and may be omitted if the side walls 22 are held in parallelrelation extending upwardly from the bottom panel 13 as shown in FIGURE3.

When the various legs have been completed, they are glued or otherwiseadhered to the surface of the pallet sheet 33 in a desired pattern toprovide a pallet of the size and shape desired. Nine such pallet legswhich are indicated in general by the letter A are shown adhered to thesheet 33, the pallet legs being spaced to accommodate the forks of afork-lift truck therebetween. In preferred form, the upper partialpanels 17 are adhered to the undersurface of the sheet 33, this actionholding the legs assembled and preventing the unfolding of the legs. Asis indicated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, a second pallet forming sheet34 may be adhered to the bottom panels 13 of the legs if a more durablepallet structure is desired.

The pallets thus formed possess high stacking strength, for example, apallet supported by four such legs will support a load of approximatelyfive thousand four hundred pounds, while each leg is usually set upmanually, this may often be done in spare time, and requires but littletime once the sequence of folds is learned.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my pallet; and while I have endeavoredto set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understoodthat obvious changes may be made within the following claims Withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A pallet supporting leg for use in supporting a pallet sheet, the legcomprising:

a rectangular base panel,

side wall panels hinged to opposite edges of said base panel and foldedinto right angular relation thereto, first, second and third cellforming panels connected in series to each end edge of said side wallpanels along parallel lines of fold,

each series of cell forming with the side wall to which they areconnected, a hollow rectangular cell having one end resting against saidbase panel,

means securing said cells in parallel relation, the securing meansincluding a second pair of side walls hinged to the remaining opposedsides of said base panel and secured in face contact with the first cellforming panels of two opposed series of said panels, and

a. pair of cover panels hinged to each of said second pair of coverpanels and engaging the ends of the cells opposite those resting againstsaid base panel.

2. A pallet supporting leg for use in supporting a pallet sheet, the legcomprising:

a blank cut and creased to provide three sde-by-side strips of panelsincluding a center strip of panels and two opposed side strips,

the center strip including a rectangular base panel, and side wallshinged to opposite ends of said base panel along parallel fold lines,

the side strips each including a central side wall, and first, secondand third cell forming panels hinged to opposite ends of said centralside wall in series along parallel fold lines,

said center side walls of said opposed side strips being hinged to theremaining edges of said base panel and said side strips being otherwisefree of direct connection with said center strip,

each series of first, second and third cell forming panels beingfoldable into a rectangular cell having one end resting upon said basepanel at a corner thereof.

said side walls of said center strip being foldable into face contact tothe first cell forming panels of each of said rectangular cells.

3. The structure of claim 1 and including tuck flanges secured to saidcover panels and extending in a direction toward said base panel betweenone pair of said cells connected to two opposed ends of said first sidewalls and the other pair of cells.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,493,562 1/ 1950 Yarman 108--5 82,559,930 7/ 1951 Bolton et al. 108-57 2,576,715 11/1951 Farrell 108-562,997,266 8/ 1961 Munroe.

FOREIGN PATENTS 591,350 9/1960 Canada. 1,237,837 6/1960 France.1,311,981 11/ 1962 France.

989,290 4/ 1965 Great Britain.

BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner. G. O. F INCH, Assistant Examiner.

